The Ghosts of Lakeforth Hotel
The Ghosts of Lakeforth Hotel
By Amy Cross
The Sexton’s musings (spoilers are likely)
Amy Cross has a very unique way of setting up her books. This one is set up in parts. I actually happen to like this structure. There is no question as to who is talking as it is in first-person and the main character of the part is announced at the beginning and then there are chapters within. The action starts from the very beginning which is quite interesting and unexpected as usually it is mostly character development at this point. Seems this one is going to be a little different.
Annie Hayes (sister to Beth Hayes)
First and last impressions...she's a royal pain in the ass. She is the younger of the two sisters and apparently she enjoys making trouble. Beth knows that she is like this, so why she invited her is beyond me. She is completely full of herself, and very entitled. I just can't, with people like this. Luckily we don't have to deal with her for very long. As it turns out she becomes the first target for our ghosts. I was not expecting this so soon in the book but it was a relief to know that my irritation was spared a whole story involving her.
Beth Hayes (Girlfriend to Steve, Sister to Annie)
Beth perhaps goes too much in the other direction from her little sister. She is very practical and feels very maternal already. Even at such a young age. I understand her discomfort with the whole situation but why she gets so pissed off is beyond me. Like pissed off to the point of breaking things off with Steve. I know that he lied and all, but come on! It's not like he cheated or something. I mean I think most people would perhaps lie about the situation as well. I mean after all it involves the supernatural and he wanted to get her impressions before biasing her. She becomes a bitch, even at the mention of ghosts. Hell, she sees one with her own eyes and she still refuses to acknowledge that there is something very strange going on there. I mean, does she really think a little girl is running around an abandoned hotel in the middle of the night, out in the middle of nowheresville? Give me a fucking break! Turns out Steve, is indeed, an asshole but for a much more sinister reason. Beth goes through legitimate hell in the brief time that she has contact with the hotel. Honestly I am extremely surprised that she has survived the ordeal. She had been stabbed in the chest, gut and several other places on her body. She gets thrown around the lobby by a very angry spirit. Then last but certainly not least she get set on fire. It seems that she gets saved by Ruth and found in time to save her life.
Maurice Mecklethrope
We travel back in time to the early 1900's a meet a 14 year old boy named Maurice. Maurice has lost his mother and has been left with an alcoholic abusive father. His father is an undertaker and has made it his mission to make a “man” out of his son so that he can take over the family business. Decides he needs to toughen him up since he has been such a sickly child. Makes me wonder, based on the aftermath, if he had polio. What his father does is cruel and so very messed up! I suppose that kind of experience can either make or break you as a person. Luckily it lights a fire in Maurice and he takes a stand. Escaping the life his father has planned for him. What happens to him after is actually more tragic than what may have happened should he have stayed with his father.
Ruth Maywhistle (one of our ghosts, sister to Mary and a victim of Jobard Nash)
So Ruth's (and Mary's) stories are tragic. In a nutshell their father owned some land that Nash wanted to get his hands on. Being and major egotistical asshole he has the family home burned to the ground; killing the parents, badly injuring Mary, and leaving Ruth a homeless orphan. Ruth and her sister, Mary, were very close and when she ends up being forced to work at the hotel, after being tricked into signing over the land. She finds out that Mary, who was badly burned in the fire, is still alive (Ruth is told she died). They had dumped her in the basement, literally on the concrete floor in the hotels basement, where I'm sure she would have eventually died if Ruth had not found her. Ruth finding her and later revealing that she knew Mary was still alive ultimately was her undoing. Mary was ill, I suspect, with TB and as her family lived out in the middle of nowhere and had no money they did not have access to a proper doctor. Ultimately she most likely would have died from this, but her end was far worse. Turns out Mary actually survived all of the misery with the fire and Nash just to be smothered by him later in life so that he can cover his ass. I wish he had never found out that she survived. That his muscle actually had a heart and was not able to kill a little girl. Neither of these girls were educated, but neither are stupid. Ruth is only 8 when Nash gets his hands on her, but she is naive to the world around her, so she is an easy target. What happens to them is so very sad. I'd come back as a pissed off disgruntled spirit too!
Ellen Nash (wife and victim of Jobard Nash)
This poor woman didn't have a chance. The man she married was not the man she thought he was. She saw him as this pillar, a great man, when really he's just dick! She had no idea how cruel and full of hubris he could be. I don't think he ever had any intension of this being a loving caring relationship. I think she was there for his reputation and to work as hostess at his hotel. Maybe give him an heir. God knows when that was going to happen considering he never left his office. She was not around during the time he murdered the girls. She just can't come to terms with the fact that this man that she has placed on a pedestal is nothing more than a monster. It's no wonder the poor woman loses her shit when she sees Ruth. It takes very little time for all of her dreams to come crashing down around her. It's actually really tragic what happens to her. She just fell for the wrong man and pays the price.
Jobard Nash (aka Maurice Mecklethrope, Hotel owner, child murderer)
Yeah so You find out about a third of the way through the section that Jobard is that sweet child from Part three, Maurice. A child who is used and abused by his father. A child that is locked inside a coffin with his deceased grandmother to toughen him up. To make him a man. His father was a bully who he manages to get away from; however, tragically he becomes a worse bully than his father. In fact he becomes a monster. This made me very sad. Considering what happened to him, when he sticks up for himself I really am rooting for him. But then he becomes Jobard Nash. A man with an ego that is too big for his own good. Despite loathing his father and the way he treated him he falls right into the same traps. Alcohol, control, and hubris. The only difference is that Nash has made money. A significant amount of money where his family was poor. I think the money factor amped up the traits of his father ten fold. To the point where he was willing to kill just to get what he wanted. The way he deals with Ruth and Mary shows his true character. The absolute worst of his character. He is so close to being found out but from what we know after his part is that he gets away with it. Lives to a ripe old age. Only he truly knows how many people he has hurt simply to get what he wants. No one is off limits. No one is exempt.
Steve Culshaw (great nephew to Nash, boyfriend to Beth)
Steve gets two parts. One where he is a child staying with his parents at the hotel and one as an adult with his girlfriend Beth and her sister Annie. I was not expecting what happens in the first few parts. Then when we move on and find out what happens to him at the hotel as a child we begin to understand a bit. We don't find out that he is related to Nash until the last quarter of the book. He seems to be a completely normal kid until Nash gets his hooks into him. Teaches him how to be a ruthless business monster. Funny thing is that it ends up being Nash's demise. The big man gets taken out by an 11 year old boy that he has given the hotel to. Honestly Steve’s idea for the hotel is actually a good one. People love to explore the supernatural and will pay for the opportunity. Unfortunately the way he goes about it is too extreme. There is also a large part of him that seems to be trapped in the mind of an 11 year old boy. He has an immaturity to him that is unmistakable. Thinking that he can get Beth to come around to his way of thinking after stabbing her and confining her is a huge part of this immaturity. I don't suspect that he is crazy, just misguided. He has looked up to the wrong person for a decade and it has not been the best influence on his adult self. His demise is not unexpected. Not even the way he dies was unexpected. I do feel that he never had a chance. Between his parents and Nash he was pretty much screwed since birth.
Closing thoughts:
An interesting ghost story. There are several tragedies involved. If you have a sensitivity to child abuse then this one may not be the one for you. There is nothing overly extreme but it's still horrible. There are some moments of gore, mostly involving blood and body decomp. It's not overly descriptive.
The epilogue was a surprise to me. I was not expecting Beth to survive her injuries. I was expecting an epilogue of doom. Her getting trapped as a spirit at the ruined hotel. I'm glad that this did not happen. I'm not sure that I can buy that she was up and out after a year as her injuries were extensive. I know she's a fighter but even fighters would take a while to come back from what she endured. There is also a pretty definitive ending to this one. It's not left open. Hence no epilogue of doom. Which was exciting.
